Humor For Your Friday Intermission

Tired of all the boring out-of-office auto responses you get when emailing other people? Here's a link to some humorous auto responses you might consider... maybe NOT if you want to keep your job, though.

On a serious note, don't just use auto-response to let others know you are out of the office or on vacation. Consider utilizing it when you want to be more fully focused on a major task or project that may consume your day. By setting up the auto-response they get an acknowledgment of your email but know you won't respond until a time given in the auto response.

If, however, you do respond to their email prior to the time you mentioned in the auto response, you have just trained that recipient to expect you to respond to their email anytime they send it-even if you have set up an auto response.

Time Management and the Caveman

I had to laugh out loud when I saw the article in Time Magazine entitled, Should You Eat Like A Caveman? As you can expect from the title, the article deliberated the benefits/challenges from seeking a diet more like that of our ancestors (Actual eating regimen is called the Paleo Diet). You can make your own decisions about its merit. What the article did get me to thinking about was using that same philosophy for managing our time.

So, with respect to those in the past here's my humorous attempt at the wisdom of time management offered by the caveman:

• Get your work done while the sun is shining. When it gets dark, it's hard to see and you won't be as productive. We have to prioritize and seek to accomplish tasks when we can most efficiently complete them. Doing otherwise is not helpful.
• Always keep a club, spear or stick with you. You never know when something may attempt to consume you-or at least get you off track. We have to guard our time. There are a million other things waiting to take away your ability to focus. You may not "beat" them off you, but having a prioritized schedule and knowing what is important helps minimize their ability to attack your schedule.
• Gather enough food for today, but don't try to horde it-you have no way of preserving it. You simply CAN'T save time. You have to make the most of the time immediately in front of you. You can spend less time on one task and have more time for another, but when the day is over (remember first bullet point) it's gone. Each day must be used wisely.

Granted, our lives are million times more complex than those of a cavemen. But, there are some timeless truths that span across all generations. Now excuse me while I go out hunting for a wooly mammoth.

Go Grab The Peroxide!

It's been pretty hectic in our office lately, so when I saw research that made me laugh out loud I thought it was worth sharing. Happy Monday!

According to a study conducted by the University of Queensland in Australia and reported in the Telegraph, Blondes earn about 7% more than brunettes, the equivalent of an additional year of education. The study involved over 13,000 Caucasian women and removed variable factors like height, weight and education levels.

It gets worse (or better), depending on your perspective. This same study showed that men who have blonde wives earn about 6% more than husbands of wives with other hair color.

You can read the article in the Telegraph, see the reasons given for the difference and then make up your own mind. Isn't it amazing what research can tell us?

A Little Humor Goes A Long Way

I was recently working from my home office. To put things bluntly, it had been a rather intense and challenging day. I was frustrated, my brain hurt and I was feeling overwhelmed. My office door slowly opened and my teenage daughter poked her head in quietly having just returned home from school. Seeing that I wasn't on the phone, she gave me a big smile and said, "Hi Dad!" The first layer of stress and frustration lifted thanks to her smile. I invited her in and we talked about her day. After a quick run down, she pulled out of her pocket a piece of Laffy Taffy and said, "I have a joke for you. Why did the spider cross the road?" I did not know why the spider crossed the road so she said, "To get to it's website."

OK, it was one of those jokes that makes you groan but for me, with the day I had had, I started to smile and laugh. It was just what I needed. In Juggling Elephants we say, "People sometimes need to laugh, relax, and not take themselves so seriously."

If you are finding yourself hitting the wall (literally or figuratively), having a bad day, frustrated and so on...maybe it is time for a mini intermission. Go for a walk, stretch, or call someone and just talk about the weather. Worse case, have a supply of Laffy Taffy, sit back, enjoy the sugar and a joke or two. It can make a difference in your day.

While you are at it, consider others that you work with and that they too may need a "pick me up" or a break every once in awhile. A good joke can go a long way...even if it is a groaner.

Send in the Clowns

I just spoke at a HR conference and took the opportunity to sit in on a session conducted by Scott Christopher, the co-author of "The Levity Effect." He presented a very humorous and entertaining workshop on the importance of fun and a sense of humor in the workplace. In Juggling Elephants terms, "People sometimes need to laugh, relax and not take themselves so seriously."

What have you done recently to lighten up the atmosphere that you work in? Fun and entertainment doesn't have to come at the expense of productivity and profitability. In fact, it can drive productivity that then results in profitability. Scott gave the example of Southwest Airlines, where having a fun atmosphere for employees was a key element that Herb Keller identified for his company. Thirty years of profit and a "through the roof" job satisfaction rate in an industry that has been struggling is proof that fun and productivity can work hand in hand. If we are going to work hard and be successful, we might as well have fun too. Life is too short!